ETSU (7-6, 3-1 A-Sun) took two of the doubles sets to win the first point and proceeded to dominate FGCU (9-8, 4-2 A-Sun) in singles. Senior Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) paired to win at No. 1 doubles and continued to stay hot in singles in the top two spots.

Other Bucs to win in both doubles and singles included junior Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) and sophomore Ricardo Pabon (Bogota, Columbia). The duo teamed on court three for a doubles win and carried their momentum into No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively.

“I finally felt we were in full control of the singles matches, which is something I haven’t felt all year,” Director of ETSU Tennis Yaser Zaatini said. “There is still a lot of room for improvement, especially in doubles. We keep squandering opportunities and letting our opponents back into the match. Hopefully, we peak at the right time.”

Bandres and Ribeiro got the day started by ousting Jordy Vives and Dean Tsamas, 8-4, at doubles No. 1. Ordeig and Pabon clinched the point, 8-5, over Michael Beiler and Collin Brown. Senior Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) and junior Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela) fell in a close set, 8-7 (7-5) on court two against Tianyu Bao and Lance Lvovsky.

Varon and Ramirez got their revenge in singles. After Ordeig quickly got by Lvovsky, 6-1, 6-0, and Ribeiro improved to 23-11, 8-4 dual, by defeating Bao, 6-1, 6-4, Ramirez earned the point to seal the team victory, 6-3, 6-2, against Tsamas. Varon followed by winning a match tiebreak over Jackson Moore, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2).

Bandres pulled out a big individual win in the top match. The reigning A-Sun Tournament MVP outlasted Vives, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) to move to 8-3 on the spring season. Bandres is ranked No. 120 nationally by the ITA.

The Buccaneers return to Johnson City next weekend to take on Lipscomb and Northern Kentucky. Friday’s matchup against the Bisons begins at 2 p.m., while Saturday’s faceoff against the Norse begins at noon.

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